Looking for an easy and delicious dinner recipe that the whole family will love? This crock pot spaghetti recipe is not only kid-friendly, but it’s also a time-saving solution for busy parents who want to serve a hearty and nutritious meal without spending hours in the kitchen!
When I was growing up you knew exactly what it meant when Mom said “we’re having spaghetti for dinner” or as I pronounced it “Pa-sketti”. It wasn’t anything fancy, but that didn’t matter to us! It was a classic rich red sauce coating every bite of a spaghetti noodle. My mom would take a simple jarred sauce and jazz it up with a myriad of ingredients like cooked ground turkey or beef and some extra garlic. It was simple, but it was perfect.
With winter upon us, I’m moving back to using my slow cooker more and more. Slow cookers save you time, energy and are just overall super convenient. Everything cooks on its own while you go about your busy day. Crock Pot Spaghetti is the total jam if you’re crunched for time and wanting an easy dish that you can put together in minutes!
Ingredients for Crock Pot Spaghetti
- ground beef, turkey, or chicken
- onion
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- jarred pasta sauce
- water
- spaghetti noodles
- grated parmesan cheese
How to Make Spaghetti in the Slow Cooker
- Brown the meat: In a skillet over medium heat, cook the oil, meat, onion, garlic powder and salt for about 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. Drain excess fat.
- Add Ingredients to Slow Cooker: Pour one jar of pasta sauce and a cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them on top of the sauce. Add the cooked meat to the crock pot, sprinkle with the cheese, and cover with the second jar of pasta sauce.
- Cook: Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or low for 6 hours. Remove the lid, stir to combine and mix everything together.
Keep in mind that each slow cooker operates at various temperatures and cooking times. To avoid overcooked spaghetti, test it regularly to ensure it’s cooked to your liking. Overcooked pasta can become sticky and mushy, which nobody likes!
FAQs
- What is the texture of this spaghetti like? Keep in mind that crock pot spaghetti produces a bit softer noodle texture than traditional spaghetti that is boiled to al dente. But it shouldn’t be mushy! Be careful to not overcook the noodles.
- Can I used jarred pasta sauce for this recipe? Absolutely! The recipe calls for jarred sauce in fact, but feel free to make your own! I’ve used my Roast Vegetable Pasta Sauce for this recipe before and it was fantastic and got in some extra veggies too!
- Can this recipe be made vegetarian? Sure! Just leave out the meat and you’ll be just fine.
More Crock Pot Pasta Recipes
- Crock Pot Vegetable Ziti
- Slow Cooker 12 Layer Lasagna
- Crock Pot Meaty Pasta Sauce
- Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna
If you liked this recipe let me know in the comments and tag me on social media if you make it!
Crock Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 26 ounce jarred pasta sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound spaghetti noodles
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the oil, meat, onion, garlic powder and salt for about 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. Drain excess fat.
- Pour one jar of pasta sauce and 1 cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them on top of the sauce.
- Add the cooked meat on top of the noodles, sprinkle with the cheese, and cover with the second jar of pasta sauce.
- Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or low for 6 hours. (See notes)
- Remove the lid, stir to combine and mix everything together.
Video
Notes
- Keep in mind that each slow cooker operates at various temperatures and cooking times. To avoid overcooked spaghetti, test it regularly to ensure it’s cooked to your liking. Overcooked pasta can become sticky and mushy, which nobody likes!
I used thick spaghetti added meatballs and extra sauce and cooked on low in an oval crockpot. It turned out wonderful. So good today will be my 2nd time cooking it.
Pasta came out clumped, was really disappointed.
This recipe is a disaster. I have a crockpot full of spaghetti paste. It’s a bland pile of mush. Don’t do it!
Can’t see the recipe because of the video. I don’t want to see a video.
How do I print just the recipe?
The pasta cooks in the sauce so you need to leave that in there. You can omit the meat and add your favorite meatballs instead!
What if I want to make this with meatballs instead of meat sauce? How do I modify the recipe?
With all the reviews about 6 hours on low. I went w High and it all cooked to perfection in 1 1/2 hours. So good. Thank you.
my noodles clumped up and mushed 🙁
Thanks for all the tips!
Yum! Totally worked for me!! Did a few tweaks and one “oops”.
-Used my long shallow slow cooker instead of my circular one that looks like a bucket so there would be a thinner layer of pasta.
-Closer to 1.25-1.5 lbs ground turkey because that’s what I had and wasn’t going to put a couple of spoonfuls of raw turkey back in the fridge, so there.
-Threw a handful of coarsely chopped mushrooms into the turkey/onion mixture because YES I AM THAT PERSON WHO ADDS MUSHROOMS TO EVERYTHING.
-Only had 22-oz cans of pasta sauce so added 1.25 cups water as one of the other folks here suggested.
-Somebody else suggested cross-layering the pasta, so I alternated a layer of long-ways and a layer of cross-ways.
-Used whole wheat spaghetti.
-Followed someone else’s suggestion of putting a drizzle of EVOO over the dry pasta.
-Got into the habit of repeating myself and accidentally added another 1.25 cups of water after I added the final jar of pasta sauce.
Set it on high and at 2 hours it was mostly cooked, but a little too al dente for my taste. Another 15 minutes and it was good enough to serve – if I hadn’t been so hungry I would have given it another 15. I’d also try this again with regular pasta as the whole wheat does keep its shape very well but doesn’t slurp up the sauce in the way that regular does that I love soooo much.
I made this followed the recipe step by step and it didn’t turn out right. The noodles were mush! How do I prvent that from happening?
This is the crock pot I have and use! http://amzn.to/2c2ZOwh
I’m wondering if the type/shape of crockpot is to blame for the wildly-differing reviews. Was this originally made in a long shallow crockpot or a more cylindrical/vertical one?
Never been before I usally use ALLRICEPE.COM but saw this spaghetti in crock pot and had to try it as it is way to hot in house to cook on stove .I have used this method of cooking pasta quite often and one thing I can say is when using regular spaghetti noodles it will turn mushy if cooked six hours even on low mine are done way before that about an hour if I use high or two on low .I learned this from the macroni and cheese I make in my crock pot hope this helps.
I am kinda irritated that I didn’t read the reviews and wasted italian sausage and a pound of ground sirloin on this disaster of a dish. it hasnt even been three hours on low and my spaghetti noodles are mushy gooey nastiness and there is absolutely no flavor. I am one mad pregnant lady.